A perfunctory knock came at the door, and she jumped. Her heart soared for a second before she realized there was no reason for Gabe to be at her door at all.
Sure enough, it was Alistair standing outside the threshold, a garment bag in his arms. She’d met the butler when she’d toured the estate, and appreciated his formality, though the bow he gave her now was a little much. “Ms. Chandler.”
“Hello, Alistair.”
“Mr. Hunter informed me there was a possible mix-up with the rooms. I do apologize.” A slight flush colored his cheeks. The man wasn’t comfortable with apologies. “When we received your text to change the room assignments, there must have been a miscommunication. I take full responsibility—”
“Did you tell him about the text?” she interrupted Alistair. She didn’t want to compound her embarrassment by Gabe knowing she’d asked to have their rooms moved to be close to each other.
Alistair didn’t blink an eye. “No, ma’am.”
Because the man knew his salary was being paid by a Chandler, not Gabe, but Eve was fine with his discretion having been bought. “It’s fine. We sorted things out. Is Gabe... is he downstairs?”
“He is currently in the breakfast room, yes.”
“Good, um. Good.”
Alistair lifted the garment bag in his hand. “This arrived a few minutes ago for you as well.”
Her dress for the wedding. She accepted it. “Thank you.”
“Would you like me to have a plate sent up?”
Saying yes felt like acknowledging her weakness. Plus, she’d grazed on the tray of snacks in her room. She wasn’t hungry for more. “No, thank you.”
She closed the door and paced to her bed to lay the garment bag down. A flash of unfamiliar pink at the opening of the bag had her frowning. She unzipped the thing.
Five minutes and a phone call later, Eve had almost forgotten her obsession with Gabe in favor of a new crisis.
A bad omen.
Or, more accurately, a pain in the ass.
“I am so sorry, Ms. Chandler.” The woman on the other end of the line sounded both apologetic and terrified.
Eve stared at the flamingo-pink dress on the bed. It was the style she’d chosen and had altered, but definitely not the right color. Both she and Sadia had agreed on pale pink. “Explain to me how this occurred.” She cringed at the cold, rich-bitch tone of her voice, but she was so shocked she couldn’t help herself.
“It appears there was a mix-up with the notes for your dress and another customer’s dress. Hers was supposed to be dyed to a darker color.”
Oh. There was another dress. Saved. “Then that’s an easy fix, yes? We can swap dresses.”
“Hers has already been altered in a way that will make it impossible to fit you, ma’am.” Real tears entered the woman’s voice. “I am so sorry.”
So what she was hearing was that the other woman’s friend’s wedding was going to go off without a hitch, while she had to somehow explain this to Livvy. One more thing to add to the bride’s worry. She groaned. “There’s no way you can get another dress in for me in a week?”
“No. If we had two weeks, perhaps.”
“No, that won’t work. The wedding is this weekend.”
“I do apologize, Ms. Chandler. If there is anything at all we can do for you, we would.”
It was a long shot, but... “Do you have anything in stock in my size? Anything at all? Something that could be altered quickly enough for me?”
“Only wedding gowns.”
And she could hardly wear a white dress to a wedding, even if Livvy had opted for a blush gown. She grimaced and quickly made her goodbyes.
She hated calling Livvy with this, but she didn’t see how she had any choice. Reluctantly, she dialed her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
